The new MP for Northland sounds genuinely interested in a request from subtribes of Ngapuhi to intercede in the dispute that is standing in the way of a Treaty settlement the region needs. Winston Peters has responded to the request with due gravity. "It is a highly sensitive issue and I obviously need to hear from others as well," he told our reporter.
He had heard from a co-chairman of a 12-hapu collective opposed to the negotiating body set up by the tribe's rununga and recognised by Crown. The disaffected hapu have long refused to be included but their approach to Mr Peters may be a sign they have realised they will be left behind. Mr Peters says he is not blaming any parties for the dispute but it was time to resolve it. He recalled the Central North Island Forests settlement in 2008. "That had hit the wall, we got over that and got it settled, given the delays, in extraordinarily quick time."
He needs to get busy. The recognised negotiating body named its three negotiators last week and the Government is as anxious as the iwi leaders to put several hundred million dollars into Northland's economy. Ngapuhi rununga chairman Sonny Tau wrote in the Herald in February, "This is the year of Ngapuhi. After seven years of seeking mandate and preparation, this year Ngapuhi begins negotiating with the Crown to settle all historical claims ... " The previous month he had made a final appeal to those whose grievance is more valuable to them than a settlement and he had been rebuffed. His article made clear the rununga and the Crown would now go ahead without them.
The disaffected hapu have sought an urgent ruling from the Waitangi Tribunal against the negotiating mandate. The tribunal has scheduled a hearing later this year. The dissidents obviously hope for more urgency from Mr Peters. If he can bring them into the negotiations at this late stage it would be a better settlement. But if not, the Government is clearly ready to proceed with those willing to settle.
Its loss of the Northland byelection will have given the Government one more reason to press for a Treaty settlement. National voters in the region need to see more being done to reduce the number of young unemployed they see around the towns. Northland has the country's highest ratio of school leavers who are not in work, training or further education. Earlier this year the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment produced a study of industries in the region with potential for growth. A settlement with the nation's largest iwi would provide substantial capital for those industries, provided Ngapuhi sets up an investment board as successful as those of Ngai Tahu and Tainui.
